Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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PUTRAJAYA: InvestKL Corp — a special purpose investment promotion agency tasked with attracting top multinational companies (MNCs) to Greater Kuala Lumpur — aims to attract 15 global organisations to establish their regional headquarters here this year, said chief executive officer Datuk Zainal Amanshah. This includes Fortune 500 and Forbes 2000 companies.

“Last year, we attracted 14 MNCs, bringing the total MNCs that we have secured to 47 to date. Given our initiative and customised incentives, we are on track to achieve 100 MNCs to establish their regional offices by 2020,” he told a media briefing yesterday.

Of the total 47 MNCs secured, Zainal said 24 are located in Kuala Lumpur, 20 in Selangor and the remaining three companies have yet to decide on their location.

“All 44 MNCs are now occupying 302,700 sq ft of office space in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, with an estimated annual rental totalling RM21.06 million,” he said, adding that the figures are based on the assumption of 100 sq ft per person and the rental rate of RM7 per sq ft in Kuala Lumpur and RM5 per sq ft in Selangor.

Since its inception in 2011, Zainal said all 47 MNCs have contributed a total investment of RM4.2 billion with a commitment to create 6,312 jobs. Of this, 3,064 people have been employed, of which 85% are Malaysians.

Some of the MNCs located in Greater KL, he added, have interest in various economic sectors such as aerospace, electrical and electronics, fast moving consumer goods, industrial products, retail outlets and oil and gas.

Greater KL, with a population of six million, extends beyond the boundaries of Kuala Lumpur and includes parts of Selangor, covering 2,793 sq km.

Zainal also said InvestKL will provide customised incentives for the MNCs to establish their regional headquarters in principal hubs, which it will reveal later.

So far, Shah Alam has been identified as an aerospace hub, Klang (logistics), Subang Jaya (education), Petaling Jaya (free industrial zone), Selayang (food hub) and Sepang (cybercity).

The customised incentives will be based on criteria like tax benefits, investment commitment, fund inflows, job creation, intellectual property creation, innovation, technology transfer, and the use of ancillary services, said Zainal.

“The customised incentives are an enhancement of the existing ‘Overseas Headquarters Incentive’ that we are currently running. The scheme is designed to attract big projects with more substance to Greater KL and Malaysia,” he said.

 

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 12, 2015.

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